1986

1986 Sacrifice and Sharing​2017 SOLD for $ 61M including premium

Shy and famous at the same time, Andy Warhol was discussing with friends throughout his career before selecting his most popular themes. The story of the dollar at the very beginning of his realization of multiples is typical. In 1985 the gallery owner Alexander Iolas suggests a new theme of interpretations of Leonardo's Last Supper to be exhibited in Milan across the street from the permanent location of the original.

Warhol is working hard on this project that had everything to seduce him. For devout Catholics the Last Supper is the founding act of the mystical Christianity by which Christ announces his death and resurrection and especially his sharing with the whole mankind.

Warhol had himself something like a resurrection in 1968 when his heart restarted after the assassination attempt. He felt that he was going to die during the surgical operation of his gallbladder which was inevitable but was constantly postponed by him. This intuition was right.

In that impulse Warhol realized about 100 variations around Leonardo's Last Supper in 1986 while about 20 were enough for the Milan exhibition. He did not take as model the original painting but two poor photographs of old copies. This final project brilliantly terminates his own pop art revolution by which the visual message and the ability to copy and multiply it are more important than the skill even when the artist is Leonardo himself.

This series includes a few monumental pieces in a perfect repetition that reaches the infinite. Christ 112 times in yellow which is a reproduction of a detail measures 203 x 1069 cm. This artwork was sold for $ 9.5M including premium by Sotheby's on May 14, 2008.

On November 15 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 13 B a ​​multiplication of the entire picture, Sixty Last Suppers. This 295 x 998 cm canvas which is undoubtedly the largest in the series and perhaps even in his entire career in terms of surface was not included in the Milan exhibition. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.

​1986 The Chromatic Chaos of Gerhard Richter2015 SOLD for £ 30.4M including premium

In the early 1980s, Gerhard Richter begins to find his own abstract style. He gradually escapes evocation and stops from 1986 giving titles to his major works. He also wants to stand out from abstract expressionism in favor of a chaos of colors for which it will however be necessary to provide an overall logic.

599 is an experimental work. Chaos is here replaced by a double movement of forces, horizontal and vertical. This is one of his earliest uses of the rake which is still challenged by the brush. Many remorses indicate all the care paid to the realization of this painting in a large size that brings to it the role of a demonstrator.

The artist offers 599 with a full chromatic scale structured in blocks with visible border lines between the colored areas. The clear parts display an opulent shine rarely attempted in painting and evoking Klimt.

The overall impression is a movement of vertical blaze that joins the volcanic explosions by Matta.

599 is a masterpiece by Richter in the etymological meaning of the word, as it is an artwork that opens a new process which will be prolific and will maintain abstract painting among the major arts of contemporary era.

​1986 The Train of Prohibition2014 SOLD 34 M$ including premium

Before exploring the universal themes through his Celebrations, Jeff Koons had reused the most kitsch images of America. Introducing ready-mades and toys in art exhibitions is not a glorification of the trivial but an invitation to Americans to flush out the unspoken or even unspeakable depths of their culture.

In 1986 Jeff prepares his second one-man exhibition, Luxury and Degradation, a title that is by itself the key to his artistic approach. The theme is alcohol, which had put so much trouble to the Americans before and during Prohibition.

The central work of Luxury and Degradation is a toy train on rails 2.90 m long cast in stainless steel. Jeff made it ​​from a plastic and porcelain train used as a decanter of bourbon by the Jim Beam brand.

The Jim Beam JB Turner Train by Jeff Koons includes the steam-type locomotive from the old days of the Wild West with its wagons. Each element is loaded with some Jim Beam bourbon, hidden to the public, thereby reactivating the frustration of the drinkers during Prohibition.

The material used by Koons is interesting for two reasons. Stainless steel is a reminder of the growth of American industry and of the fortune of Carnegie. Its impeccable polishing is the beginning of the exploration by Koons of the artistic strength of perfect metal surfaces. His first steel Rabbit imitating an inflatable toy dates from the same year.

The train was edited in three units, plus an artist's proof which will be sold by Christie's in New York on May 13. I invite you to play the video shared by the auction house.

​​1986 The Quiet Abstraction of Gerhard Richter​2016 SOLD for $ 34M including premium

Gerhard Richter conscientiously serializes his Abstraktes Bild (AB) in chronological order, in series ranging from one to ten paintings. A review of the 1986 millésime, AB 588 to AB 619, tracks the evolution of the technique and inspiration of the artist in this very important transition year which includes the first use of the squeegee.

At the beginning of 1986, Richter already goes further than other abstract artists by an extensive use of the range of colors and a great brightness. The first AB's of 1986 are often inspired by landscape views in which we try to recognize waterfalls of various shapes. Lines are separating the various areas in the image.

AB 599, 300 x 250 cm, was sold for £ 30,4M including premium by Sotheby's on February 10, 2015. The gigantic culmination of this phase is the two Claudius, AB 603 and AB 604, 311 x 406 cm each. Offered by Christie's on October 19, 2008 at the start of the crisis of the art market, AB 604 was not sold.

AB 612-4, 225 x 200 cm, titled Still, is estimated $ 20M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 17, lot 13.

To execute Still, the artist used jointly brushes and squeegees. The contribution of the squeegee adds a smooth veil over the impasto. The dividing lines are now disappearing.

The title is interesting. Still is of course not a movie picture. The website gerhardrichter.com provides the official English translation : Quiet. AB 615 and AB 616 are named Courbet. Nothing prevents AB 612-4 to be a tribute to another master : Clyfford Still. The large red area on the left in AB 612-4 may be an echo to Still's hells. The intermingling colors that open the new signature style of Richter remind the shredded separations between Clyfford Still's colors.

​1986 The Apotheosis of Andy Warhol2010 SOLD 32.5 M$ including premium

Andy Warhol, observer of events and of top people of this world, did not fail to look also at himself. Like Dali before him, and like Lagerfeld today, he made his own person a work of art out of usual standards.

His last series of self-portraits, done in 1986, is famous. The face is pale, the eyes are fixed, his cheeks are hollow and the hair is long and shaggy. The artist knew he was aging, but he could not imagine being so close to his sudden death.

This image takes the meaning of an apotheosis. Warhol is no longer human, he is being transformed into a half-god of contemporary art.

The purple painting for sale by Sotheby's in New York on May 12, 2.70 x 2.70 m, is one of the largest in the series. Its color is sinister and captivating. It is announced at $ 10 million. The press release and image of the lot are shared by AuctionPublicity.

POST SALE COMMENT

The king of the sales of this week in New York was Warhol. Warhol himself! This fabulous self-portrait was sold $ 32.5 million including premium.

1986 Six Shaggy Wigs​2014 SOLD 30 M$ including premium

PRE 2018 SALE DISCUSSION

​A set of six small size self portraits with fright wig by Warhol was sold for $ 30M including premium by Sotheby's on May 14, 2014, lot 23. It had been illustrated by Sotheby's in a pre sale video. Still complete from its original configuration it is now offered by Christie's in London on March 6, lot 9.

These six acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas 56 x 56 cm display the same image, each one in another color.

I narrated this famous image as follows before the 2014 sale :

The two major themes of multiples that made Andy Warhol busy in 1986 are so opposite that it is worth putting them face to face.

On one side, Leonardo's Last Supper with Christ as the central character, also processed in detailed enlargement, dignified and doctoral.

On the other side, the last self-portrait, head cut under the chin with the shaggy hair (or wig) of a mad man. The lines of the face are wasted as if they announced the next transformation of the artist into a skeleton.

Andy had ever wished to moralize the society. He is exhausted by the beginning of the disease. He is facing the Christ of whom he now knows that he cannot be a reincarnation.

This portrait is a masterpiece of self-mockery. In his usual practice Andy prepared it in various sizes and colors. The smaller were intended to be kept in series in a sequence of hanging defined by the artist.

The bigger pictures 270 x 270 cm were twice featured at auction. The terrible red version was sold for $ 27.5 million including premium by Christie's on 11 May 2011. The disturbing purple portrait was sold for $ 32.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on May 12, 2010.

A set of three mid-size 102 x 102 cm each was sold for £ 11.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on February 27, 2008, a high price at a time when the British currency was worth almost two dollars.

​1986 The Red Icon2011 SOLD 27.5 M$ including premium

Andy Warhol would be both the last modern artist and the first contemporary artist, wouln't he? His self-portraits of 1986 are increasingly in a position to be considered as major icons of twentieth century art.

After showing images of the world as in the magazines, Warhol created a different masterpiece. This haggard and unkempt self-portrait offset the expectations of well-thinking people in the same way as, many years before, the famous photo of Einstein sticking out his tongue.

Five paintings were executed simultaneously, showing the same image of the face of the aging artist on a black background, respectively in green, blue, purple, yellow and red.

The sale of the purple version, 2.70 x 2.70 m, by Sotheby's on May 12, 2010, was a revelation. Estimated $ 10M, this work was sold $ 32.5 million including premium. The pre-sale press release indicated that only one other version was still in private hands.

The red Warhol, same size, is for sale by Christie's in New York on May 11. It is estimated $ 30M. The image is shared by Art Market Monitor.

POST SALE COMMENT

The availability of the purple version last year had created a indisputable surprise. Sold for $ 27.5 million including premium, the red Warhol has not reached the price of its predecessor.

​1986 The Shaggy Deity of Pop Art​2016 SOLD for $ 24.4M including premium

Andy Warhol was a devout Catholic. His multiplication of identical pictures of Marilyn throughout his career and of Mao in 1972 and 1973 may be interpreted as an attempt to have some of his images becoming as recognizable as Christ on the cross.

In the 1960s Andy also processed his self-portraits as a shy man half hidden to observe the world.

His mystical preaching restarts in 1986 with his remakes of Leonardo's Last Supper, in whole or limited to details. He gets an intuition that the exemplary character that he has long sought in the modern world is himself.

He is already 58 years old and his face is aging. He greatly exaggerates his physical decline with a shaggy wig, haggard eyes and an open mouth that are turning his head into a hollowed mask on a black background. Reusing the technique of his early masterpieces he paints this unique view in acrylic on silkscreen by multiplying sizes and colors.

On November 17 in New York, Sotheby's is selling the white version of this Self Portrait in 203 x 193 cm size, lot 38 estimated $ 20M.

In 1986 black and white imaging had fallen into an obsolete past and this white figure cannot have the same cinematographic meaning as a previous Silver Liz. The lack of colors keeps the sharpness of details of the screen printing in a high artistic achievement : it is undoubtedly one of the scarier versions of this famous image.

In its largest format 270 x 270 cm the purple painting was sold for $ 32,5M including premium by Sotheby's on May 12, 2010.

1986 Obsession of the Deep South​2017 SOLD for € 15M including premium

In 1981 and 1982 Jean-Michel Basquiat is a virtuoso of colors used by him with strength and humor to glorify the black heroes. This brilliant pantheon is the vision of an artist, powerless to change anything in the race relations. From 1983 his art becomes a virulent claim against the consumer society that oppresses the African Americans.

Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta is a masterpiece of his new way. The obsessively repeated tags accompany the visual message : Mississippi, Mark Twain, Negroes. A banner locates this disguised form of slavery : The Deep South. This 1983 polyptych was sold for $ 23.7M including premium by Sotheby's on May 14, 2014.

The character is a big black head with empty eyes pinned on a derisory skeleton. The extended arms are terminated by tiny closed fists translating the illusory aspect of the racial combat. This head is traversed throughout by the Mississippi River. The word Mississippi is inscribed in repetition in the lower part of the image. This river manages to match Hudson, Ohio and Thames.

Removing any doubt as to the political reason of this image, a plaque bears a sharp inscription to Jim Crow, symbol for a century and a half of the racial discrimination. This Jim Crow, a fictional character in the minstrel shows, was a rude Negro from the South conceived to argue the civilized black Zip Coon. The message is clear : despite the laws, the living conditions have not changed since Twain's time.

The hopeless attitude of the character is offset by the dynamism of the rhythmic composition around the wooden slats. In 1986 Basquiat appeared increasingly as a jazz enthusiast. A tribute to Lester Young 150 x 100 cm was sold for $ 6M including premium by Sotheby's on May 18, 2017.

​1986 The Last Preaching of Andy Warhol2014 SOLD 61 MSEK including premium

Ondrej and Julia Varhola, the parents of Andy, had emigrated to the United States. They came from a village in present-day Slovakia and were deeply Catholic.

Andy's personality was very complex, but the real thread was his fear of God and death. Even at the time of his greater social activity, the basics of his character were never freed from shyness. He could not become a preacher, but he wanted to spread his vision of the vanity of things in life. He was an artist. He was even the most important artist of his time.

His relationship with the Catholic religion remained intense without becoming conventional. Too shy to go to confession, he fled ceremonies but liked to attend in person, anonymously, the charity to the poor of New York. He was carrying parcels and served coffee and meals.

In 1986, he finds a true model for his life. This is Leonardo's Last Supper. Throughout that year, he reinterprets it in the Warholian fashion, creating about forty works including details, multiples and even camouflages.

He worked intensively on the model, up to challenge the original Leonardo, too much modified and damaged. Warhol's Last Supper is inspired by drawings of experts in search of the initial features of the work. Andy got the anxiety that the public and the critics do not understand how much his interpretation of Leonardo's Last Supper was a serious work although he had spent his life in a continuous mockery of modern civilization.

The exhibition of 20 Last Suppers in Milan on January 22, 1987 was a triumph. Sitting in front of a simple Formica table, Andy signed autographs. Sick and exhausted, he had to interrupt his stay. Warhol died of the consequences of his creative act, like Van Gogh, De Staël and Klein.

A multiple of a detail of the Last Supper, Christ 112 times yellow, 2 x 10.7 m, was sold for $ 9.5 million including premium by Sotheby's on May 14, 2008.

Varying the colors from a work to another according to his usual practice, the double Last Supper 102 x 102 cm is the most common version. One of them was sold for $ 6.8 million including premium by Sotheby's on November 9, 2010. Another double Supper in same size is estimated SEK 60M, for sale on May 14 by Bukowskis in Stockholm.